Grid Corporation of Odisha (GRIDCO) has invited bids to source land from land owners and aggregators for either lease or sale to project developers for setting up solar power projects in Odisha.

The land offered must have a minimum size of 20 acres (calculated at an assumed rate of 4-5 acres/MW) and should be located in close proximity to a specific DISCOM/OPTCL substation.

The last date for submission of bids is March 2, 2024. Bids will be opened on the next day.

Bidders have to pay ₹2,000 (~$24.10) + GST @18% towards the cost of bid documents.

In accordance with GRIDCO’s specifications, applicants must be approved to offer their lands to solar project developers through a long-term lease of at least 30 years or on a sale basis.

The chosen developers can either buy the land or lease it on mutually agreed terms with the landowners. They are also permitted to secure land for their solar projects independently.

GRIDCO will bear no liability or responsibility in the dealings between solar project developers and landowners, regardless of the deal’s outcome.

GRIDCO will function as a facilitator, collecting information from aggregators/landowners about available land.

This information will be shared with potential developers through a separate tender for solar projects. GRIDCO will not conduct any evaluation (financial, legal, or technical) of the offered land.

Land acquisition is entirely the responsibility of the developer, who may choose to source land independently.

The applicant for this tender must possess full ownership, rights, and interests in the offered land, and it should be in their actual physical possession, free from any encumbrances.

The land should be contiguous and accessible by road, suitable for the movement of heavy vehicles transporting equipment such as transformers and inverters.

In addition to being free from encumbrances and legally and physically owned by the applicant, the land should not fall within prohibited wildlife, forest areas, or defense establishments. There must be no government restrictions on setting up solar power projects on the offered land.

Applicants have the flexibility to offer land at a single location or adjacent locations under one substation or at multiple locations under different substations in the same or different districts.

While there is no minimum distance requirement from the designated DISCOM/OPTCL Grid Substation, the shortest aerial distance (preferably ≤ 5 km) will be considered and given weightage during proposal evaluations.

In December 2023, GRIDCO invited bids from intra-state off-takers to buy 500 MW of solar power through a tariff-based competitive bidding process with a greenshoe option.

Earlier, the Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha invited bids to conduct topographic and contour surveys and soil and water quality tests for a 55-60 MW solar power project in Boudh.

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